According to an affidavit filed in a Kodiak courtroom, the man, Steven Ridenour, charged with the murder of fellow lodge caretaker on Shuyak Island, Steven McCaulley, did so in self defense.

Troopers discovered McCaulley dead from two weapon wounds, a shotgun blast and rifle wound to his front and back when they traveled to the remote location 50 miles north of Kodiak on November 17th, 2015, according to court documents.

In the affidavit filed in court, it stated that Ridenour’s brother called the lodge owner, Joe Krall and stating that he had thought that his brother had shot McCaulley at Port Williams. In turn, Krall called troopers and requested a welfare check for McCaulley.

Ridenour had traveled to Kodiak on a scheduled mail flight on November 12th following a mail off-load. The Island Air pilot who made the mail run noted that Ridenour “was the only one to come down to the beach” that day.

Three days later, on November 15th, Ridenour contacted the lodge owner and asked for his four paychecks it was revealed in court.[xyz-ihs snippet=”adsense-body-ad”]

According to the affidavit, on November 18th, troopers spoke with Ridenour’s brother and he stated that Ridenour told him that he had killed NcCaulley after McCaulley came after him with a chainsaw. The brother also told troopers that Ridenour had contacted other people on Facebook and said the same thing.

According to the court document, Ridenour told investigators, that he had fallen down near a shotgun after McCaulley came at him with a chainsaw, and that was when he “shot McCaulley several times with a shotgun loaded with slugs.” Ridenour also told investigators that he had ran to the boardwalk at the old cannery-turned-lodge, firing a rifle until he was out of ammo. “He continued to shoot McCaulley to put him ‘out of his misery,’” the affidavit says. “Ridenour stated he continued to shoot McCaulley after he was down because there is no medical care available there.”

Although Ridenour’s phone, which was seized from his residence, showed that he had sent messages to family members stating that he had killed McCaulley in self defense, in messages to a person in Florida, it showed that he had previously mentioned injuring the victim.

Ridenour is currently in custody in the Anchorage Jail with his bail set at $250,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled in his case in Kodiak Court on January 22nd. He is charged with Murder I and Tampering with Physical Evidence.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adversal-468×60″]

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